Concealed hinge



Dec. 8,` 1936. E. B. G. LEFEVRE 2063y686 CONCEALED HINGE Filed March 6,1935 i Patented Dec. 8, 14936 AUNITED vSTATES PATENT oFFlCE ooNoEALEDHINGE Emil B. G. Lefevre, Demut, Mich.

Application March 6, 1935, Serial No. 9,634

s Claims. (ol. 16-163) This invention relates to hinges capable ofgeneral application but particularly designed for use on automobiledoors. It is well known that the upper and lower hinges' on such doorsare commonly spaced substantially apart and that the outer surfaces ofthe door and body are fre- '15 outside of the body and door surfaces.This construction, while effective; is ungainly, and the outwardlyprojecting hinge parts impair the beauty of the body design.

It is the general object of my present invention to provide an improvedhinge which will project the door outward as it begins to open, and

which will be entirely concealed when the door is closed. y

A further object of the invention is to provide a concealed hinge whichwill rmly support a wide and heavy door without sagging or undesirablelooseness in any position.

My invention-further relates to arrangements and combinations of partswhich will be herein- 3o after described and more particularly pointedout in the appended claims.

A preferred form of the invention is shown in the drawing, in which yFig. 1 i's a sectional plan view of my improved hinge, together withportions of the associated door and body;

Fig. 2 is a view similar to Fig. 1 but showing a door and hinge in openposition;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of one of the hingev plates, looking in thedirection of the arrow 3 in Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a similar view of the other hinge plate, looking in thedirection of the arrow 4 in Fig. 1, and

Fig. 5 is a side elevation of one of the hinge links, looking in thedirection of the arrow 5 in Fig. 1.

Referring to the drawing, I have shown a portion of a body B and aportion of a door D. The body B includes an outer metal casing or panelI0 having an inwardly olset corner portion or rabbet II which isthereafter extended ,inward to provide an edge portion I2. ,The casingor panel I0 is cut away along the edge I2 inside the door opening andalong a portion of the corner or rabbet I I at the points where hingesare to be applied, and at each of these points the body is provided witha reenforcing plate or hinge support I3 which is rmly secured in someconvenient manner, as by spot- 5 welding to some body part I5, such aspillar, panel reenforcement or bracket.

The reenforcing plate or hinge support I3 is provided with spacedelongated slots I4 for a purpose to be described.l Any suitable interiorl0 finish of leather, bre, fabric or other material may be provided asindicated at I6.

The doorD is similarly formed with an outer panel 20 having a projectingportion 2| anged over the outwardly projecting edge portion 22 of 15 aninner casing or pillar 23. A portion 25 of the inner casing or pillarforms the edge of the door and connects the portions 22 and 23previously described.

A reenforcing plate or hinge support 2B is pref- 20 erably secured tothe edge portion 25 by spot-welding or otherwise, and the reenforcingplate 26 has an oiset portion 2l extending along the inner side of thedoor and having elongated spaced slots 28. 25

My improved hinge comprises hinge plates 30 and 3|, hinge links 32k and33, land a plurality of hinge-pins 34, 35, 36 and 31.

The hinge plate 30 is provided with countersunk holes 40 to receivescrews 4| (Fig. 1) extend- 30 ing through the slots I4 in thereenforcing plate or hinge support I3 and' threaded into a tapped plate42 disposed at the rear of the reenforcing plate.

- Reference to Fig. 2 will show that the screws 4I 3s are readilyaccessible when the door is open, and that by loosening the screws 4|the hinge plate 30 may be adjusted transversely in the body B to causethe surfaces I0 and 20 of the body and door 40 to assume properalignment.

Similarly, the hinge plate 3| is provided with countersunk holes 50 toreceive screws 5I extending through the slots 28 in the reenforcingplate 26 and into a tapped plate 52. By loosening the screws 5|, thedoor D may be adjusted widthwise relative to the body B, thus permittingconvenient centering of the dcorin the door opening.

The hinge plate 30 is provided with an oiset portion from which extendupper and lower 50 bearing members 6I and 62 which are provided withopenings (i3L and 54 for the hinge-pins 34 and 36 respectively.

The hinge plate 3| is provided with outwardly projecting bearing members'l0 having openings 1| and 12 for the hinge-pins 35 and 31 respectively.

It will be noted that the hinge-pins 34 and 36 are abruptly andsubstantially offset from the plane of the hinge-plate 30, while thehinge-pins 35 and 31 are only slightly out of alignment with thehinge-plate 3l.

It will be noted also that the hinge-pins 35 and 31 are substantiallyfurther apart than the hinge-pins 3B and 36 and that the link 33 issubstantially longer than the linkv 32. `The link 32 is alsosubstantially arched to provide a recess 15 for the end of the link 33when the door is open, as indicated in Fig. 2, in which position thelink 32 and the end of the link 33 cooperate to form a stop.

A packing 11 is preferably secured under the projecting portion 2l 'ofthe door casing 20, to form a windbreak as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and2.

Hingesthus constructed possess very substantial and importantadvantages. Reference to Fig. 2 will show that the paths of swingingmovement of the hinge-pins 35 and 31 do not at any point intersect, andthat they are always substantially spaced apart so that the overhangingweight of the door is in all positions firmly supported. The doormovement is also such that the overhanging edge portion 2i has no motiontoward the interior of the car but remains substantially in one positionduring "th initial opening movement of the door and thereafter movesrapidly outward to the position shown in Fig. 2.

'The initial swinging movement of the door is substantially about thepoint X (Fig. l) near the end of the projecting portion 2l of the doorand without perceptible movement of the door Widthwise or in thedirection of the arrow a in Fig. 1. Consequently, there is no binding ofthe door during the initial opening movement;

, After the swinging edge of the door has cleared the door casing, thepoint X follows substantially the curved line d to the positionindicated in Fig. 2, the path of movement approximating a hyperbolicspiral. It will be apparent that the edge of the extension 2i at alltimes substantially clears the outer casing l of the body, even in caseswhere the casing is substantially curved outward between the hinges.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, I do notwish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than asset forth in the claims, but what I claim is:-

1. A concealed hinge comprising a ilrst hinge plate to be attached to axed member, a second hinge plate to be attached to a swinging member,and longer and shorter hinge links connecting spaced bearing points onone hinge plate to spaced bearing points on the other hinge plate, thebearing points on said first hinge plate being" disposed in a linesubstantially inclined to the outer sur face of said swinging memberwhen said member is in closed position, the bearing points on saidsecond hinge plate being in a line nearly parallel to said outersurface, and the bearing points on said first hinge plate beingsubstantially nearer together than the bearing points on said secondhinge plate, the bearing point on said first hinge plate which' is moreremote from the securing portion of said first hinge plate and thebearing point on said second hinge plate which is nearer the securingportion of said second hinge plate being connected by the longer link.

2. A concealed hinge comprising a first hinge plate to be attached to afixed member, a second hinge plate to be attached to a swinging member,and longer and shorter hinge links connecting spaced bearing points onone hinge plate to spaced bearing points on the other hinge plate, thebearing points on said first hinge plate being disposed in a linesubstantially inclined to the bearing point on said second hinge platewhich is nearer the securing portion of said second hinge plate beingconnected by the longer link, and said 'shorter link-being arched toprovide a recessed portion at one side thereof to receive one end ofsaid longer link, said recessed portion and said link end cooperating toform a stop when the swinging member is in open position.

3. A concealed hinge comprising a iirst hinge plate to be attached to axed member, a second hinge plate to be attached to a swinging member,and longer and shorter hinge links connecting spaced bearing points onone hinge plate to spaced bearing points on the other hinge plate, saidrst plate having a securing portion extending transversely of the outersurface of said fixed member, and said secondplate having a securingportion extending substantially parallel to said outer surface, andmeans to attach said securing portions to associated parts of said fixedand movable members, said attaching means comprising bolts extendingthrough aligned openings in said securing portions and associated partsand certain of said openings being elongated, whereby each of saidplates may be adjusted relative to its supporting structur'e in theplane of its securing portion and may be firmly securednin'selectedadjusted position.

EMIL B. G. LEFEVRE.

